'Postman Pat' post office shuts its doors

June 20 2003London

The rural English post office that provided the inspiration for children's character Postman Pat closed its doors for the last time yesterday after a slump in business.

The branch in the village of Beast Banks, near Kendal in the Lake District, was immortalised by British author John Cunliffe in his stories about a cheery postman, his black and white cat Jess and post mistress Mrs Goggins.

But real-life sub-post master Mike Molloy said yesterday he was shutting the store because of a sharp drop in business, a nationwide problem that has seen 345 post office closures in Britain this year alone.

Residents said yesterday they were saddened by the closure of a central part of their community.

"The spirit of the village will go," resident David Lawson told BBC radio's Today program. ");document.write("

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Beast Banks became the home of fictional favourite Postman Pat in 1981, after resident author Cunliffe was asked to pen a series of short children's stories for the BBC.

"I was living at the time just a few yards away from Beast Banks post office," Cunliffe said. "And of course that was the natural place to go when I wanted to get details about the life of a rural postman."

He said the post office's closure was a sad day for the community. "The post office is a very important part of the community. You can exchange gossip, get personal help there... It's a very essential thing that is going."

With a further 3,000 of Britain's 9,000 post offices earmarked for closure, the traditional village post office could soon be a thing of the past, according to Keith Myers, spokesman for the Federation of Sub-Post Masters.

Pension and welfare payments, the traditional business of local post offices, are now paid directly into bank accounts, and postage stamps are sold in a variety of outlets.

"The situation is that income for postmasters is reducing and their expenditure is increasing," he told the BBC.

Since his first series in 1981, Postman Pat has become one of entertainment's most endearing children's characters, becoming a household name in more than 50 countries.